


Regencia River

by busket



Series: AITA EXTENDED UNIVERSE [2]
Category: The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-22
Updated: 2019-02-22
Packaged: 2019-11-03 17:17:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,934
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17881955
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/busket/pseuds/busket
Summary: (This is a small spin-off of my larger LinkxOC fic, Something Greater! Read that before you read this.)





	Regencia River

Entry 1  
I defected from the Yiga Clan 6 months ago. It’s a secret that I’ve held close all this time; I’ve barely spoken to anyone since then, but I feel the need to tell someone, or something. 

I was always weak and slow, a failure of a footsoldier. I can’t fight well, the thought of being hurt frightens me, and I freeze up at the threat of battle. All around, I’m a pathetic excuse for a member, and the blademasters and my fellow foot soldiers would let me know it, constantly. Eventually, I broke. It came to be too much, and ever the coward that I am, I ran away. I will always be a failure and a disgrace, but at least now, perhaps I can be with people who don’t know that about me? 

No, I shouldn’t entertain the fantasy that I could ever be close to other people. Why should I want to; Hylians worship their royal family, the pinnacle of greed and oppression. I shouldn’t interact with them. That’s what I was taught. Should they find out that I’m from the Yiga, they would kill me. Should I ever return to the Yiga Clan, they would kill me too. 

Entry 2  
I found an old, run down house at the banks of the Regencia River, just west of Mount Daphnes. I’ve been watching it for days now, and it has no sign of activity. I decided to take residence there, but I’ll be ready to leave at the first sign of trouble. To the east is a merchant village, a center for exchange and commerce. I believe people traveling between Castle Town and Gerudo Town stop there a lot. Thankfully, I’m far enough from the road to stay hidden. There’s a temple to the north, called the Sage Temple, I believe. I feel like I’m doing a good job at staying hidden, and things are easier with a warm and dry shelter. I could never tolerate survival, just another one of my shortcomings, I suppose.

Entry 3  
I’ve been staying in this house for a few months now without issue. I’ve repaired it some, and began to relax. But today, a man washed up on the beach of the Regencia River. He was calling for help as he dragged himself up to the shore; I was paralyzed with fear, but in time, I left my home and approached him. 

He lives and works at the temple upstream. He told me that he twisted his ankle and fell into the river as he was working, and was swept downstream to my beach. He couldn’t walk. Leaving him or maybe pushing him back into the water would just attract more problems to me, so I helped him into my house and treated his leg. 

I always knew I would end up as a medic in the Yiga Clan, all the failures become medics. I suppose I had become resigned to my fate and was already studying some medicine. I wrapped his ankle tightly to keep it from moving, gave him some herbs I’d found for pain, and fashioned together a cane out of a tree branch. He seemed very grateful. I helped him walk back up to the road and pointed him towards the village in the east, someone would bring him home there. He thanked me. I only hope he didn’t suspect anything of me, but he seemed happy. I felt a little proud that I could do that for him. Would it be so bad being a medic? 

Entry 4  
I was shocked at the sound of knock on my door this morning. I peeked out my window and saw a group of about four or five people in robes from the temple. I wished they would leave but they didn’t, and they saw me looking out the window, anyway. I answered the door and they told me that their friend had told them all about me and what I did. As thanks, they brought me food and some rupees.

Apparently they had known about me for a while, the people in the village did, too. That makes me anxious, but apparently they all just see me as a strange hermit that moved into this abandoned house on the riverbank. They mentioned nothing of the Clan, or my shortcomings, I suppose they didn’t know. I must seem like a very odd person to them. I don’t blame them for wanting to keep their distance, perhaps it’s best that they do.

Entry 5  
More people have been coming to my house. Sometimes more temple workers stop by to “check on me”, merchants from the village come around to see if I want to buy or sell anything, (sometimes I do), and rarely, people will come with injuries that need to be treated, and I do what I can. I like being here where it’s quiet, I don’t think I could ever live in a village, or a bustling city like Castle Town; but I have to admit, I enjoy seeing people sometimes. I can’t explain why, I feel lighter knowing that sometimes they might think of me fondly. It’s been over a year now since I left the Yiga Clan and I’m beginning to feel like I could live a normal life. Perhaps I could be a part of Hyrule.

Entry 6  
Someone else arrived at my door today. I answered it expecting a temple worker or a villager, but I recognized his face immediately. It was the legendary hero, the champion of Hyrule, the princess’ personal knight. 

He spoke low and urgently, almost a monotone voice, asking me if I had seen someone pass through here, and described a young woman. I gathered that it had to be the princess. I was honest and told him I hadn’t seen her; honestly, I was afraid and wanted him to leave. He nodded and turned to go, when something crossed my mind. 

It was getting late, and he looked tired and fed up. Perhaps if I could help him in the smallest way, I could redeem myself for my past and my failures? By showing hospitality to someone who was once my enemy, maybe I could finally move on. I called to him and invited him to stay. It wasn’t safe to travel at night, especially with monsters becoming more aggressive lately, and being as tired as he was. He agreed, and entered my house. 

It was late into the night when I awoke to the sound of something on my roof. The hero was already awake and exiting the front door, bow in hand, sword on his back. I rushed outside with a lantern and saw him fire into the darkness with frightening confidence, and heard a cry of pain as someone fell off my roof. He moved forward, pinning the intruder under his boot; it was a Yiga footsoldier.

The hero reached back for his legendary sword, and I realized what he was about to do. I cried out for him to stop and he froze, the blade hovering over the footsoldier.

“Do you know what the Yiga are?” he asked me, the same quiet, intense tone of voice. “They’re evil.”

“They’re people!” I pleaded. “They don’t deserve to be killed!”

“The Yiga Clan stands against everything I’ve sworn to protect.” He stated. “If I show mercy, they would have this kingdom fall to ruin.”

“It’s not their fault! They can change!” I felt like I was begging for my own life.

“They’re all the same.” the hero said. “They’re evil. They don’t change.” A pit of fear was growing in my stomach.

In an explosion of smoke the footsoldier disappeared, teleporting back to the hideout and admitting defeat. I was breathless as the hero walked inside and collected the rest of his belongings. He thanked me for the hospitality, and left into the night.

Entry 7  
I have been thinking about my encounter with the hero. I should never have been so foolish to think that I could ever be different, that I could be anything but a failed footsoldier. These Hylians that showed me kindness; I’ve done nothing but deceive them. And the hero...their hero. He wouldn’t have hesitated to kill me, too. How many other Yiga members has he killed? How easily they could have been me, had my own weakness and cowardice caused me to defect. 

I couldn’t possibly join Hylian society. I can’t lie to everyone about what I am. They’re bound to find out eventually, and they’ll destroy me. It’s been too long to go back to the clan, and I’m worthless to them, too. I’m trapped between two worlds that don’t want me. I need to leave. If I can go further into the wilderness, to where no one will ever have to see me or talk to me again, then maybe I can live freely. 

 

Tears dropped from Link’s face to pages as he read the final entry. Aita walked up the bank of the river and saw him holding the old, tattered book and called out to him. “Did you find something?” he asked, but as he approached, Link said nothing, only wiping his eyes with his palm. “Hey, what’s wrong?” Aita said, gently placing a hand on his shoulder. Link offered the journal to Aita.

Aita thumbed through the pages, skimming across the entries. “Oh, wow…this has got to be over 100 years old, right? Before the calamity?” Aita said. “Do you remember this person? Does it have to do with what you forgot?”

Link shook his head and sniffled. 

“Don’t be upset.” Aita said. “You were doing your job...I’m sure this person was probably happy, after a while! If they went somewhere remote, maybe they even survived the calamity and had a long life...?” he said. He was still unsure exactly what to say to cheer Link up.

“I was so terrible to them, though…” Link spoke softly. “How could I have said those things, how could I have been so cold?”

“You were different back then; Zelda said so too, remember?” Aita responded. “You were under huge pressure, just like this person was when they were in the clan, just like I was, too. That can make you say and believe some awful things. That doesn’t make you terrible. And to be fair, the Yiga Clan is evil, no one can blame you for thinking that way.”

Link took a deep, shaky breath. “I could have convinced them to trust people again. I could have helped them move on like they wanted to, but I just...I just confirmed all their fears and made them push everyone away. I didn’t know anything.”

“You know, now.” Aita said softly. He set the journal on the ground and stepped forward to hold Link. “If you didn’t, I wouldn’t be here now. You might not have known to help that person a century ago, but you helped me…” He kissed Link’s forehead. 

“Yeah…” Link said quietly, and hugged Aita back. “Can we keep that journal? I know it’s not what we’re looking for, and the person who wrote it is definitely gone, but I’d like to see if I can remember them, too…” he said. “And even if we don’t know where they went or what happened to them, we can give the journal a burial, at least.”

“Sure.” Aita said, picking up the book and putting it in his bag with the other random, memory sparking artifacts they had found on their search. “Let’s keep looking, okay?”


End file.
